LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The No. 3 Gannon women’s basketball team needed a spirited second half to overcome a sluggish first 20 minutes and posted a 74-51 victory at Lock Haven Saturday night. The victory enabled the Lady Knights to remain one game ahead of No. 20 California (Pa.) in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division.
Gannon managed to hold a 29-26 halftime lead despite committing 19 turnovers in the first half. The first 20 minutes featured five ties and 12 lead changes. Lock Haven owned a 20-5 edge in points off turnovers during the first half.
Head coach Cleve Wright’s squad regrouped at the break and dominated the second half. The Lady Knights shot 51.5 percent (17-33), held the Lady Eagles to 27.3-percent (9-33) shooting and committed only five turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
Gannon opened the second stanza with a 15-2 run.
Carrie Nolan (Girard, Pa./Girard) sparked the attack with a three-pointer 39 seconds into the half. Five different Lady Knights scored during the run which included three triples.
In addition to Nolan’s three-pointer,
Kim Vargas (Sterling, Va./Broad Run) and
Tiffany Crocker (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) also converted three-point bombs.
Julie Kleber’s (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) lay-up capped the run, giving the Lady Knights a 44-28 lead with 15:07 to play.
Lock Haven answered with a 10-2 run to claw within 46-38, but Gannon quickly responded with an 11-2 blitz that put the game away. Vargas and
Kristina Freeman (Yonkers, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) combined to score all 11 points during the run. Vargas started the scoring spree with four straight points, before her lay-up at the 8:57 mark put the Lady Knights up 57-40.
The Gannon lead slowly increased in the final nine minutes.
Caitlyn Lowe’s (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) three-pointer with 1:12 remaining provided the Lady Knights with their biggest lead of the evening and accounted for the final 74-51 score.
Freeman led all scorers with 22 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. The senior guard went 7-for-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range. She has reached the 20-point plateau five times this season.
Vargas finished with 13 points and needs six points to become the fourth current Lady Knight to enter the 1,000-point club.
Shanna Thompson (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights) added 11 points off the bench.
Gannon shot 49.1 percent (27-55) from the field, 42.9 percent (9-21) from three-point range and 73.3 percent (11-15) from the free throw line.
Casi Donelan led the Lock Haven offensive attack with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists. Kristen Kudrick was the only other Lady Eagle in double digits with 12 points.
Lock Haven shot 33.9 percent (20-59) from the floor, 33.3 percent (5-15) from behind the arc and 42.9 percent (6-14) from the charity stripe.
Gannon, ranked third in NCAA Division II and first in the Atlantic region, remained undefeated at 22-0 overall and 6-0 in the PSAC Western Division with its fifth consecutive victory over Lock Haven. The Lady Eagles dropped to 5-12 overall and 0-6 in conference play. Gannon has now won 32 consecutive regular-season games and 39 straight games when leading at halftime.
The Lady Knights return to action Wednesday, February 3 at Mercyhurst. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
For a complete box score from Saturday’s Gannon-Lock Haven women’s basketball game, please
click here.